i 


BE 


ITS 


AN 


ADDRESS, 


DELIVERED    BEFORE 


THE  MERCANTILE  LIBRARY  COMPANY, 


PHILADELPHIA, 


$&*$  11,  1841. 


BY  WILLIAM  E.  CHANNING. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

,,  PRINTER,  '• 

1841. 


AN 


ADDRESS, 


DELIVERED     BEFORE 


THE  MERCANTILE  LIBRARY  COMPANY, 


PHILADELPHIA, 


#la»  11,  1841. 


BY  WILLIAM  E.  CHANNING. 


PHILADELPHIA  : 

J.  CRISSY,  PRINTER,  M'MBER  FODB  MINI  B     II. EE  i 

1841. 


J**- 


:  b  ^ 

MERCANTILE  LIBRARY. 

MayYUth,  1841. 

At  a  Special  Meeting  of  the  Directors,  held  this  day,  the  following  resolutions 
were  adopted : — 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Board  of  Directors  on  behalf  of  the  Mercantile 
Library  Company  of  Philadelphia,  be  presented  to  Dr.  William  E.  Channing  for  his 
very  appropriate,  instructive,  and  eloquent  Address,  delivered  before  the  Company 
last  evening ;  and  that  a  copy  thereof  be  requested  for  publication. 

Resolved,  That  Isaac  Barton,  John  Fausset,  and  Henry  C.  Corbit  be  a  committee 
to  communicafe  to  Dr.  Channing  the  foregoing  resolution. 

THOMAS  P.  COPE,  President. 
John  J.  Thompson,  Secretary. 


Philadelphia,  May  13th,  1841. 
Dear  Sir, 

We  have  been  directed  to  communicate  to  you 
the  inclosed  resolution,  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Directors  of  the  Mercantile  Library 
Company,  testifying  the  deep  sense  of  their  obligation  for  the  able,  and  highly  interest- 
ing discourse,  pronounced  by  you  before  the  Company,  and  many  other  Citizens,  on 
the  11th  instant;  and  requesting  you  would  favour  them  with  a  copy  for  publication. 

It  affords  us  much  pleasure  to  perform  the  duty  thus  devolved  upon  us ;  and  we 
avail  ourselves  of  the  occasion,  to  express,  individually,  our  esteem  for  your  character, 
and  an  ardent  desire,  that  your  life,  devoted  as  it  has  been  to  the  improvement  of  your 
fellow  men,  may  be  prolonged  to  a  late  period ;  and  that  you  may  enjoy  all  the  bless- 
ings attendant  on  time  well  employed. 

With  great  respect, 

We  are  yours,  &c. 

ISAAC  BARTON, 
JOHN  FAUSSET, 
HENRY  C.  CORBIT, 

Commitief. 

DR.  WILLIAM  E.  CHANNING. 


to  the  committee  of  the  mercantile  library  company. 

Gentlemen, 

I  am  truly  grateful  for  the  kind  manner  in  which 
my  Address  was  received,  and  for  the  resolution  which  you  have  communicated  from 
the  Directors  of  your  Association.  I  place  the  Address  in  your  hands  for  publication 
I  wish  I  could  hope,  that  it  is  lo  be  read  with  the  interest  with  which  it  was  heard.  I 
believe,  however,  that  with  all  its  imperfections,  it  expresses  some  important  truths,  to 
which  I  shall  be  glad  to  call  the  attention  even  of  a  few.  With  the  best  wishes  for 
your  institution,  and  with  sentiments  of  respect  for  its  Directors, 

I  am,  Gentlemen, 
very  truly, 

Your  friend, 

WM.  E.  CHANNING 
Philadelphia,  May  15th   1841 


' 


TO    MY    VENERABLE    FRIEND, 


JOHN     VAUGHAN,     ESQ., 


WHO  IIA3  MADE  THE  PAST  GENERATION  AND  THE   PRESENT  HIS  DEBTORS 


BY    UNWEARIED    WELLDOING, 


THIS    ADDRESS    IS   AFFECTIONATELY, 


AND   RESPECTFULLY    INSCRIBED. 


W    E.  C. 


ADDRESS. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Mercantile  Library  Company, 

I  beg  you  to  consider  my  appearance  in  this  place, 
as  an  expresssion  of  my  interest  in  this  and  in  kindred 
Institutions.  I  welcome  them  as  signs  of  the  times,  as 
promises  and  means  of  increased  intellectual  activity. 
I  shall  be  glad,  if  a  good  word  or  a  friendly  effort  on 
my  part  can  serve  them.  I  know,  that  the  lectures 
delivered  before  such  societies  are  called  superficial ; 
but  this  does  not  discourage  me.  All  human  produc- 
tions, even  those  of  genius,  are  very  superficial,  com- 
pared with  the  unfathomable  depths  of  truth.  The  sim- 
ple question  is,  do  these  lectures  rouse  the  mind  to  new 
action  ?  Do  they  give  it  new  objects  of  thought,  and 
excite  a  thirst  for  knowledge  ?  I  am  sure  that  they  do, 
and  therefore,  though  the  field  is  sometimes  called  hum- 
ble, I  enter  it  with  pleasure. — Will  you  allow  me  to 
observe,  that  to  render  lectures  useful,  one  condition  is 
necessary  ;  they  must  be  frank,  honest,  free.  He  who 
speaks,  must  speak  what  he  thinks  ;  speak  courteously, 
but  uncompromisingly.     What  makes  our  eommuniea 


8 

lions  unprofitable  in  this  country,  is  the  dread  of  giving 
offence,  now  to  the  majority,  and  now  to  the  fashiona- 
ble or  refined.  We  speak  without  force,  because  not 
true  to  our  convictions.  A  lecturer  will,  of  course, 
desire  to  wound  no  man's  prejudices  or  feelings ;  but 
his  first  duty  is  to  truth  ;  his  chief  power  lies  in  simple, 
natural,  strong  utterance  of  what  he  believes ;  and  he 
should  put  confidence  in  his  hearers,  that  the  tone  of 
manly  sincerity  will  be  responded  to  by  candor  and 
good  will. 

The  subject  to  which  I  call  your  attention,  is  the 
Present  Age  ;  a  vast  theme,  demanding  volumes.  An 
age  is  needed  to  expound  an  age ;  and,  of  course,  little 
is  to  be  expected  in  a  brief  hour.  I  profess  no  great 
understanding  of  the  subject,  though  I  have  given  it 
much  thought.  In  truth,  it  cannot  be  grasped,  as  yet, 
by  the  highest  intellect.  This  age  is  the  result,  issue, 
of  all  former  ages.  All  are  pouring  themselves  into  it. 
The  struggles,  passions,  discoveries,  revolutions  of  all 
former  time,  survive  in  their  influences  on  the  present 
moment.  To  interpret  the  present  thoroughly,  we  must 
understand  and  unfold  all  the  past.  This  work  I  shall 
not  undertake.  I  am  not  now  to  be  an  historian.  Do 
not  fear,  that  I  shall  compel  you  to  journey  backward 
to  the  deluge  or  to  paradise.  I  shall  look  only  at  the 
present;  nor  do  I  think  of  unfolding  all  the  present. 
I  shall  seize  on  a  single  characteristic  of  our  age,  if 
not  the  profoundest,  yet  the  most  prominent  and  best 
fitted  to  an  address  like  the  present.     In  performing 


9 

this  task,  my  aim  will  be  to  speak  the  simple  truth.  I 
wish  to  say  what  the  age  is,  not  to  be  its  advocate  ;  and 
yet  I  hope  to  lead  you  to  look  tenderly  and  trustfully 
on  it,  to  love  it,  and  to  resolve,  with  generous,  stout 
hearts,  that  you  will  serve  it,  as  far  as  God  may  give 
you  ability. 

In  looking  at  our  age,  I  am  struck,  immediately,  with 
one  commanding  characteristic,  and  that  is,  the  ten- 
dency in  all  its  movements  to  expansion,  to  diffusion, 
to  Universality.  To  this,  I  ask  your  attention.  This 
tendency  is  directly  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  exclusive- 
ness,  restriction,  narrowness,  monopoly,  which  has 
prevailed  in  past  ages.  Human  action  is  now  freer, 
more  unconfmed.  All  goods,  advantages,  helps,  are 
more  open  to  all.  The  privileged,  petted  individual  is 
becoming  less,  and  the  human  race  are  becoming  more. 
The  multitude  is  rising  from  the  dust.  Once  we 
heard  of  the  few,  now  of  the  many ;  once  of  the  prero- 
gatives of  a  part ;  now  of  the  rights  of  all.  We  are 
looking  as  never  before,  through  the  disguises,  envelop- 
ments of  ranks  and  classes,  to  the  common  nature  which 
lies  below  them,  and  are  beginning  to  learn,  that  every 
being  who  partakes  of  it,  has  noble  powers  to  cultivate, 
solemn  duties  to  perform,  inalienable  rights  to  assert,  a 
vast  destiny  to  accomplish.  The  grand  idea  of  hu- 
manity, of  the  importance  of  man  as  man,  is  spreading 
silently,  but  surely.  Not  that  the  worth  of  the  human 
being  is  at  all  understood  as  it  should  be;  but  the  truth 
i-    glimmering    through    the   darkness.      A    faint    con- 


10 

sciousness  of  it  has  seized  on  the  public  mind.  Even 
the  most  abject  portions  of  society  are  visited  by  some 
dreams  of  a  better  condition,  for  which  they  were 
designed.  The  grand  doctrine,  that  every  human  being 
should  have  the  means  of  self-culture,  of  progress  in 
knowledge  and  virtue,  of  health,  comfort,  and  happi- 
ness, of  exercising  the  powers  and  affections  of  a  man, 
this  is  slowly  taking  its  place,  as  the  highest  social 
truth.  That  the  world  was  made  for  all,  and  not  for  a 
few ;  that  society  is  to  care  for  all ;  that  no  human 
being  shall  perish  but  through  his  own  fault ;  that  the 
great  end  of  government  is  to  spread  a  shield  over 
the  rights  of  all,  these  propositions  are  growing  into 
axioms,  and  the  spirit  of  them  is  coming  forth  in  all  the 
departments  of  life. 

If  we  look  at  the  various  movements  of  our  age,  we 
shall  see  in  them  this  tendency  to  universality  and  dif- 
fusion. Look  first  at  Science  and  Literature.  Where 
is  Science  now?  Locked  up  in  a  few  colleges  or  royal 
societies  or  inaccessible  volumes  ?  Are  its  experiments 
mysteries  for  a  few  privileged  eyes  ?  Are  its  portals 
guarded  by  a  dark  phraseology,  which,  to  the  multitude, 
is  a  foreign  tongue  ?  No ;  Science  has  now  left  her 
retreats,  her  shades,  her  selected  company  of  votaries, 
and,  with  familiar  tone,  begun  the  work  of  instructing 
the  race.  Through  the  press,  discoveries  and  theories, 
once  the  monopoly  of  philosophers,  have  become  the 
property  of  the  multitude.  Its  professors,  heard  not 
long  ago  in  the  university  or  some  narrow  school,  now 


11 

speak  in  the  Mechanic  Institute.  The  doctrine,  that 
the  labourer  should  understand  the  principles  of  his  art, 
should  be  able  to  explain  the  laws  and  processes  which 
he  turns  to  account ;  that  instead  of  working  as  a  ma- 
chine, he  should  join  intelligence  to  his  toil,  is  no 
longer  listened  to  as  a  dream.  Science,  once  the  great- 
est of  distinctions,  is  becoming  popular.  A  lady  gives 
us  conversations  on  chemistry,  revealing  to  the  minds 
of  our  youth  vast  laws  of  the  universe,  which,  fifty 
years  ago,  had  not  dawned  on  the  greatest  minds.  The 
school  books  of  our  children  contain  grand  views  of  the 
creation.  There  are  parts  of  our  country,  in  which 
Lyceums  spring  up  in  almost  every  village,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  mutual  aid  in  the  study  of  natural  science.  The 
characteristic  of  our  age  then  is  not  the  improvement 
of  science,  rapid  as  this  is,  so  much  as  its  extension  to 
all  men. 

The  same  characteristic  will  appear,  if  we  enquire 
into  the  use  now  made  of  science.  Is  it  simply  a  mat- 
ter of  speculation  ?  a  topic  of  discourse  ?  an  employ- 
ment of  the  intellect  ?  In  this  case,  the  multitude,  with 
all  their  means  of  instruction,  would  find  in  it  only  a 
hurried  gratification.  But  one  of  the  distinctions  of 
our  time  is,  that  science  has  passed  from  speculation 
into  life.  Indeed,  it  is  not  pursued  enough  for  its  intel- 
lectual, and  contemplative  uses.  It  is  sought  :is  ;i 
mighty  power,  by  which  nature  is  not  only  to  be  opened 
to  thought,  but  to  be  subjected  to  our  needs.  It  is  COB* 
ferring   OH    us   lliat   dominion   over   earth,    sen,  and  air, 


12 

which  was  prophesied  in  the  first  command  given  to 
man  by  his  Maker ;  and  this  dominion  is  now  employed, 
not  to  exalt  a  few,  but  to  multiply  the  comforts  and 
ornaments  of  life  for  the  multitude  of  men.  Science 
has  become  an  inexhaustible  mechanician ;  and  by  her 
forges,  and  mills,  and  steam  cars,  and  printer's  presses, 
is  bestowing  on  millions,  not  only  comforts,  but  luxu- 
ries which  were  once  the  distinction  of  a  few. 

Another  illustration  of  the  tendency  of  science  to  ex- 
pansion and  university  may  be  found  in  its  aims  and  ob- 
jects. Science  has  burst  all  bounds  and  is  aiming  to 
comprehend  the  universe,  and  thus  it  multiplies  fields 
of  enquiry  for  all  orders  of  minds.  There  is  no  pro- 
vince of  nature  which  it  does  not  invade.  Not  content 
with  exploring  the  darkest  periods  of  human  history,  it 
goes  behind  the  birth  of  the  human  race,  and  studies 
the  stupendous  changes  which  our  globe  experienced 
for  hundreds  of  centuries,  to  become  prepared  for  man's 
abode.  Not  content  with  researches  into  visible  na- 
ture, it  is  putting  forth  all  its  energies  to  detect  the 
laws  of  invisible  and  imponderable  matter.  Difficulties 
only  provoke  it  to  new  efforts.  It  would  lay  open  the 
secrets  of  the  polar  ocean  and  of  untrodden  barbarous 
lands.  Above  all  it  investigates  the  laws  of  social  pro- 
gress, of  arts  and  institutions  of  government  and  po- 
litical economy,  proposing  as  its  great  end  the  allevia- 
tion of  all  human  burthens,  the  weal  of  all  the  members 
of  the  human  race.  In  truth,  nothing  is  more  charac- 
teristic of  our  age,  than  the  vast  range  of  enquiry  which 


13 

is  opening  more  and  more  to  the  multitude  of  men. 
Thought  frees  the  old  bounds  to  which  men  used  to 
confine  themselves.  It  holds  nothing  too  sacred  for 
investigation.  It  calls  the  past  to  account;  and  treats 
hoary  opinions  as  if  they  were  of  yesterday's  growth. 
No  reverence  drives  it  back.  No  great  name  terrifies 
it.  The  foundations  of  what  seems  most  settled  must 
be  explored.  Undoubtedly  this  is  a  perilous  tendency. 
Men  forget  the  limits  of  their  powers.  They  question 
the  infinite,  the  unsearchable,  with  an  audacious  self- 
reliance.  They  shock  pious  and  revering  minds,  and 
rush  into  an  extravagance  of  doubt,  more  unphilosophi- 
cal  and  foolish  than  the  weakest  credulity.  Still,  in 
this  dangerous  wildness,  we  see  what  I  am  stating,  the 
tendency  to  expansion  in  the  movements  of  thought. 

I  have  hitherto  spoken  of  science,  and  what  is  true 
of  science,  is  still  more  true  of  Literature.  Books  are 
now  placed  within  reach  of  all.  Works,  once  too  cost- 
ly except  for  the  opulent,  are  now  to  be  found  on  the 
labourer's  shelf.  Genius  sends  its  light  into  cottages. 
The  great  names  of  literature  are  become  household 
words  among  the  crowd.  Every  party,  religious  or 
political,  scatters  its  sheets  on  all  the  winds.  We  may 
lament  and  too  justly  the  small  comparative  benefit,  as 
yet  accomplished  by  this  agency;  but  this  ought  not  to 
surprise  or  discourage  us.  In  our  present  stage  of  im- 
provement, books  of  little  worth,  deficient  in  taste  and 
judgment  and  ministering  to  men's  prejudice  and  pas- 
sions, will   almost   certainly   be   circulated   too   freely. 


14 

Men  are  never  very  wise  and  select  in  the  exercise  of 
a  new  power.  Mistake,  error,  is  the  discipline  through 
which  we  advance.  It  is  an  undoubted  fact,  that  silent- 
ly books  of  a  higher  order  are  taking  place  of  the 
worthless.  Happily  the  instability  of  the  human  mind 
works  sometimes  for  good,  as  well  as  evil.  Men  grow 
tired  at  length  even  of  amusements.  Works  of  fiction 
cease  to  interest  them;  and  they  turn  from  novels  to 
books,  which,  having  their  origin  in  deep  principles  of 
our  nature,  retain  their  hold  of  the  human  mind  for 
ages.  At  any  rate,  we  see  in  the  present  diffusion  of 
literature,  the  tendency  to  universality  of  which  I  have 
spoken. 

The  same  tendency  will  appear,  if  we  consider  the 
kind  of  literature  which  is  obtaining  the  widest  favour. 
The  works  of  genius  of  our  age  breathe  a  spirit  of  uni- 
versal sympathy.  The  great  poet  of  our  times,  Words- 
worth, one  of  the  few  who  are  to  live,  has  gone  to  com- 
mon life,  to  the  feelings  of  our  universal  nature,  to  the 
obscure  and  neglected  portions  of  society,  for  beautiful 
and  touching  themes.  Nor  ought  it  to  be  said,  that  he 
has  shed  over  these,  the  charms  of  his  genius ;  as  if  in 
themselves  they  had  nothing  grand  or  lovely.  Genius 
is  not  a  creator,  in  the  sense  of  fancying  or  feigning 
what  does  not  exist.  Its  distinction  is,  to  discern  more 
of  truth  than  common  minds.  It  sees,  under  disguises 
and  humble  forms,  everlasting  beauty.  This  it  is  the 
prerogative  of  Wordsworth  to  discern  and  reveal  in  the 
ordinary  walks  of  life,  in  the  common  human  heart. 


15 

He  has  revealed  the  loveliness  of  the  primitive  feelings, 
of  the  universal  affections  of  the  human  soul.  The 
grand  truth  which  pervades  his  poetry  is,  that  the  beau- 
tiful is  not  confined  to  the  rare,  the  new,  the  distant,  to 
scenery  and  modes  of  life  open  only  to  the  few ;  but 
that  it  is  poured  forth  profusely  on  the  common  earth 
and  sky,  that  it  gleams  from  the  loneliest  flower,  that  it 
lights  up  the  humblest  sphere,  that  the  sweetest  affec- 
tions lodge  in  lowly  hearts,  that  there  is  sacredness, 
dignity  and  loveliness  in  lives  which  few  eyes  rest  on, 
that  even  in  the  absence  of  all  intellectual  culture,  the 
domestic  relations  can  quietly  nourish  that  disinterest- 
edness, which  is  the  element  of  all  greatness,  and  with- 
out which,  intellectual  power  is  a  splendid  deformity. 
Wordsworth  is  the  poet  of  humanity  ;  he  teaches  reve- 
rence for  our  universal  nature ;  he  breaks  down  the 
factitious  barriers  between  human  hearts. 

The  same  is  true  in  an  inferior  degree  of  Scott,  whose 
tastes  however  were  more  aristocratic.  Scott  had  a 
childish  love  of  rank,  titles,  show,  pageants,  and  in  gene- 
ral looked  with  keener  eye  on  the  outward  life  than  in- 
to the  soul.  Still  he  had  a  human  heart  and  sympa- 
thised with  his  race.  With  few  exceptions,  he  was  just 
to  all  his  human  brethren.  A  reconciling  spirit  breathes 
through  his  writings.  He  seizes  on  the  interesting 
and  beautiful  features  in  all  conditions  of  life  ;  gives  us 
bursts  of  tender  and  noble  feelings  even  from  ruder  na- 
tures ;  and  continually  knits  some  new  tie  between  the 
reader   and   the   vast  varieties  of  human    nature  which 


16 

start  up  under  his  teeming  pen.  He  delighted  indeed 
in  Highland  chiefs,  in  border  thieves  and  murderers,  in 
fierce  men  and  fierce  encounters.  But  he  had  an  eye  to 
catch  the  stream  of  sweet  affections,  as  it  wound  its 
way  through  humble  life.  What  light  has  Jeanie  Deans 
shed  on  the  path  of  the  obscure  !  He  was  too  wanting 
in  the  religious  sentiment,  to  comprehend  the  solemn 
bearing,  the  stern  grandeur  of  the  Puritans.  But  we 
must  not  charge  with  narrowness  a  writer,  who  embo- 
died in  a  Jewish  maiden  his  highest  conceptions  of  fe- 
male nobleness. 

Another  writer  illustrating  the  liberalizing,  all-har- 
monizing tendency  of  our  times,  is  Dickens,  whose  ge- 
nius has  sought  and  found  subjects  of  thrilling  interest 
in  the  passions,  sufferings,  virtues  of  the  mass  of  the 
people.  He  shows,  that  life  in  its  rudest  forms  may 
wear  a  tragic  grandeur  ;  that  amidst  follies  and  sensual 
excesses,  provoking  laughter  or  scorn,  the  moral  feel- 
ings do  not  wholly  die;  and  that  the  haunts  of  the  black- 
est crimes  are  sometimes  lighted  up  by  the  presence 
and  influence  of  the  noblest  souls.  He  has  indeed  great- 
ly erred,  in  turning  so  often  the  degradation  of  humani- 
ty into  matter  of  sport ;  but  the  tendency  of  his  dark 
pictures  is  to  awaken  sympathy  with  our  race,  to  change 
the  unfeeling  indifference  which  has  prevailed  towards 
the  depressed  multitude,  into  sorrowful  and  indignant 
sensibility  to  their  wrongs  and  woes. 

The  remarks  now  made  on  literature,  might  be  ex- 
tended to  the  Fine  Arts.     In  these  we  see  too  the  ten- 


17 

dency  to  universality.  It  is  said,  that  the  spirit  of  the 
great  artists  has  died  out ;  but  the  taste  for  their  works 
is  spreading.  By  the  improvements  of  engraving,  and  the 
invention  of  casts,  the  genius  of  the  great  masters  is 
going  abroad.  Their  conceptions  are  no  longer  pent 
up  in  galleries  open  to  but  few,  but  meet  us  in  our 
homes,  and  are  the  household  pleasures  of  millions. 
Works,  designed  for  the  halls  and  eyes  of  emperors, 
popes,  and  nobles,  find  their  way,  in  no  poor  represen- 
tations, into  humble  dwellings,  and  sometimes  give  a 
consciousness  of  kindred  powers  to  the  child  of  po- 
verty. The  art  of  drawing,  which  lies  at  the  foundation 
of  most  of  the  fine  arts,  and  is  the  best  education  of  the 
eye  for  nature,  is  becoming  a  branch  of  common  edu- 
cation, and  in  some  countries  is  taught  in  schools  to 
which  all  classes  are  admitted. 

I  am  reminded,  by  this  remark,  of  the  most  striking 
feature  of  our  times,  and  showing  its  tendency  to  uni- 
versality, and  that  is,  the  unparalleled  and  constantly 
accelerated  diffusion  of  education.  This  greatest  of 
arts,  as  yet  little  understood,  is  making  sure  progress, 
because  its  principles  are  more  and  more  sought  in  the 
common  nature  of  man  ;  and  the  great  truth  is  spread- 
ing, that  every  man  has  a  right  to  its  aid.  Accordingly 
education  is  becoming  the  work  of  nations.  Even  in 
the  despotic  governments  of  Europe,  schools  are  open 
for  every  child  without  distinction ;  and  not  only  the 
elements  of  reading  and  writing,  but  music  and  draw- 
ing are  taught,   and  a  foundation  is  laid  for  future  pro 

3 


18 

gross  in  history,  geography,  and  physical  science.  The 
greatest  minds  are  at  work  on  popular  education.  The 
revenues  of  states  are  applied  most  liberally,  not  to  the 
universities  for  the  few,  but  to  the  common  schools. 
Undoubtedly,  much  remains  to  be  done ;  especially  a 
new  rank  in  society  is  to  be  given  to  the  teacher  ;  but 
even  in  this  respect  a  revolution  has  commenced,  and 
we  are  beginning  to  look  on  the  guides  of  the  young  as 
the  chief  benefactors  of  mankind. 

I  thought,  that  I  had  finished  my  illustrations  on 
this  point;  but  there  has  suddenly  occurred  to  me 
another  sign  of  the  tendency  to  universal  intellectual 
action  in  this  country,  a  sign  which  we  are  prone  to 
smile  at,  but  which  is  yet  worthy  of  notice.  I  refer  to 
the  commonness  among  us  of  public  speaking.  If  we 
may  trust  our  newspapers,  we  are  a  nation  of  orators. 
Every  meeting  overflows  with  eloquence.  Men  of  all 
conditions  find  a  tongue  for  public  debate.  Undoubtedly, 
there  is  more  sound  than  sense,  in  our  endless  speeches 
before  all  kinds  of  assemblies  and  societies.  But  no 
man,  I  think,  can  attend  our  public  meetings,  without 
being  struck  with  the  force  and  propriety  of  expression 
in  multitudes,  whose  condition  has  confined  them  to  a 
very  imperfect  culture.  This  exercise  of  the  intellect, 
which  has  almost  become  a  national  characteristic,  is 
not  to  be  undervalued.  Speech  is  not  merely  the  dress, 
as  it  is  often  called,  but  the  very  body  of  thought.  It 
is  to  the  intellect  what  the  muscles  are  to  the  principle 
of  physical  life.     The  mind  acts  and  strengthens  itself 


19 

through  words.  It  is  a  chaos  till  defined,  organized  by 
language.  The  'attempt  to  give  clear  precise  utterance 
to  thought,  is  one  of  the  most  effectual  processes  of 
mental  discipline.  It  is,  therefore,  no  doubtful  sign  of 
the  growing  intelligence  of  a  people,  when  the  power  of 
expression  is  cultivated  extensively  for  the  purpose  of 
acting  on  multitudes.  We  have  here  one  invaluable 
influence  of  popular  institutions.  They  present  at  the 
same  moment  to  a  whole  people  great  subjects  of 
thought,  and  bring  multitudes  to  the  earnest  discussion 
of  them.  Here  are,  indeed,  moral  dangers ;  but  still 
strong  incitements  to  general  intellectual  action.  It  is 
in  such  stirring  schools,  after  all,  that  the  mind  of  a 
people  is  chiefly  formed.  Events  of  deep  general  inte- 
rest quicken  us  more  than  formal  teaching ;  and  by 
these  the  civilized  world  is  to  be  more  and  more 
trained  to    thought. 

Thus  we  see  in  the  intellectual  movements  of  our 
times,  the  tendency  to  expansion,  to  universality ;  and 
this  must  continue.  It  is  not  an  accident,  or  an  inex- 
plicable result,  or  a  violence  on  nature ;  it  is  founded 
in  eternal  truth.  Every  mind  was  made  for  growth, 
for  knowledge  ;  and  its  nature  is  sinned  against,  when 
it  is  doomed  to  ignorance.  The  divine  gift  of  intelli- 
gence was  bestowed  for  higher  uses  than  bodily  labour, 
than  to  make  hewers  of  wood,  drawers  of  water, 
ploughmen,  or  servants.  Every  being,  so  gifted,  is 
intended  to  acquaint  himself  with  God  and  his  works, 
and  to  perform  wiselj  and  disinterestedly  the  duties  of 


20 

life.  Accordingly,  when  we  sec  the  multitude  of 
men  beginning  to  thirst  for  knowledge,  for  intellectual 
action,  for  something  more  than  an  animal  life,  we  see 
the  great  design  of  nature  about  to  be  accomplished  ; 
and  society,  having  received  this  impulse,  will  never  rest, 
till  it  shall  have  taken  such  a  form,  as  will  place  within 
every  man's  reach  the  means  of  intellectual  culture. 
This  is  the  revolution  to  which  we  are  tending ;  and 
without  this  all  outward  political  changes  would  be 
but  children's  play,  leaving  the  great  work  of  society 
yet  to  be  done. 

I  have  now  viewed  the  age  in  its  Intellectual  aspects. 
If  we  look  next  at  its  Religious  movements,  we  shall 
see  in  these  the  same  tendency  to  universality.  It  is 
more  and  more  understood,  that  religious  truth  is  every 
man's  property  and  right ;  that  it  is  committed  to  no 
order  or  individual,  to  no  priest,  minister,  student,  or 
sage,  to  be  given  or  kept  back  at  will ;  but  that  every 
man  may,  and  should  seek  it  for  himself ;  that  every 
man  is  to  see  with  his  own  mind,  as  well  as  with  his 
own  eyes ;  and  that  God's  illuminating  spirit  is  alike 
promised  to  every  honest  and  humble  seeker  after  truth. 
This  recognition  of  every  man's  right  of  judgment, 
appears  in  the  teachings  of  all  denominations  of  Chris- 
tians. In  all,  the  tone  of  authority  is  giving  place  to 
that  of  reason  and  persuasion.  Men  of  all  ranks  are 
more  and  more  addressed,  as  those  who  must  weigh 
and  settle  for  themselves  the  grandest  truths  of  reli- 
gion. 


2\ 

The  same  tendency  to  universality,  is  seen  in  the 
generous  toleration  which  marks  our  times,  in  compa- 
rison with  the  past.  Men,  in  general,  cannot  now 
endure  to  think,  that  their  own  narrow  church  holds  all 
the  goodness  on  the  earth.  Religion  is  less  and  less 
regarded  as  a  name,  a  form,  a  creed,  a  church,  and 
more  and  more  as  the  spirit  of  Christ  which  works 
under  all  forms  and  all  sects.  True,  much  intolerance 
remains ;  its  separating  walls  are  not  fallen ;  but  with 
a  few  exceptions,  they  no  longer  reach  to  the  clouds. 
Many  of  them  have  crumbled  away,  till  the  men  whom 
they  sever,  can  shake  hands,  and  exchange  words  of 
fellowship,  and  recognize  in  one  another's  faces  the 
features  of  brethren. 

At  the  present  day  the  grand  truth  of  religion  is  more 
and  more  brought  out;  I  mean  the  truth,  that  God  is 
the  Universal  Father,  that  every  soul  is  infinitely  pre- 
cious to  him,  that  he  has  no  favorites,  no  partial  attach- 
ments, no  respect  of  persons,  that  he  desires  alike  the 
virtue  and  everlasting  good  of  all.  In  the  city  of  Penn, 
I  cannot  but  remember  the  testimon)7-  to  this  truth, 
borne  by  George  Fox  and  his  followers,  who  planted 
themselves  on  the  grand  principle,  that  God's  illumi- 
nating spirit  is  shed  on  every  soul,  not  only  within  the 
bounds  of  Christendom,  but  through  the  whole  earth. 
This  universal  impartial  love  of  God  is  manifested  to 
us  more  and  more  by  science,  which  reveals  to  us  vast 
all-pervading  laws  of  nature,  administered  with  no 
favoritism  and  designed  for  the  good  of  all.     T  know, 


QO 


that  this  principle  is  not  universally  received.  Men 
have  always  been  inclined  to  frame  a  local,  partial, 
national  or  sectarian  God,  to  shut  up  the  Infinite  One 
in  some  petty  enclosure;  but  at  this  moment,  larger 
views  of  God  are  so  far  extended,  that  they  illustrate 
the  spirit  of  the  age. 

If  we  next  consider  by  Whom  religion  is  taught,  we 
shall  sec  the  same  tendency  to  diffusion  and  univer- 
sality. Religious  teaching  is  passing  into  all  hands.  It 
has  ceased  to  be  a  monopoly.  For  example,  what  an 
immense  amount  of  instruction  is  communicated  in 
Sunday  schools.  These  are  spreading  over  the  Chris- 
tian world,  and  through  these  the  door  of  teaching  is 
open  to  crowds,  to  almost  all  indeed  who  would  bear  a 
part  in  spreading  religion.  In  like  manner,  associations 
of  vast  extent  are  springing  up  in  our  cities  for  the 
teaching  of  the  poor.  By  these  means,  Woman  espe- 
cially is  becoming  an  evangelist.  She  is  not  only  a 
priestess  in  her  own  home,  instilling  with  sweet  loving 
voice  the  first  truths  of  religion  into  the  opening  mind; 
but  she  goes  abroad  on  missions  of  piety.  Woman,  in 
one  age  made  man's  drudge,  and  in  another,  his  toy, 
is  now  sharing  more  and  more  with  him  the  highest 
labours.  Through  the  press,  especially,  she  is  heard 
far  and  wide.  The  press  is  a  mightier  power  than 
the  pulpit.  Books  outstrip  the  voice;  and  woman 
availing  herself  of  this  agency,  becomes  the  teacher  of 
nations.  In  churches,  where  she  may  not  speak,  her 
hymns  arc  sung ;    the  inspirations   of  her  genius  are 


23 

felt.      Thus  our  age  is  breaking  down  the   monopolies 

of  the   past. 

But  a  more  striking  illustration  remains.  One  of  the 
great  distinctions  of  our  times,  is  found  in  the  more 
clear  and  vital  perception  of  the  truth,  that  the  univer- 
sal impartial  love,  which  is  the  glory  of  God,  is  the 
characteristic  spirit  and  glory  of  Christianity.  To  this 
we  owe  the  extension  of  philanthropic  and  religious 
effort,  beyond  all  former  experience.  How  much  we  are 
better,  on  the  whole,  than  former  times,  I  do  not  say ;  but 
that  benevolence  is  acting  on  a  larger  scale,  in  more 
various  forms,  to  more  distant  objects,  this  we  cannot 
deny.  Call  it  pretension  or  enthusiasm,  or  what  you 
will,  the  fact  remains  ;  and  it  attests  the  diffusive  ten- 
dencies of  our  times.  Benevolence  now  gathers  to- 
gether her  armies.  Vast  associations  are  spread  over 
W'hole  countries  for  assailing  evils,  which,  it  is  thought, 
cannot  be  met  by  the  single-handed.  There  is  hardly  a 
form  of  evil,  which  has  not  awakened  some  antagonist 
effort.  Associated  benevolence  gives  eyes  to  the  blind 
and  ears  to  the  deaf,  and  is  achieving  even  greater  won- 
ders;  that  is,  it  approaches  the  mind  without  the 
avenues  of  eye  and  ear,  and  gives  to  the  hopelessly 
blind  and  deaf  the  invaluable  knowledge  which  these 
senses  afford  to  others.  Benevolence  now  shuts  mil 
no  human  being,  however  low,  from  its  regard.  It 
goes  to  the  cell  of  the  criminal  with  words  of  hope,  and 
is  labouring  to  mitigate  public  punisbmenl  to  mak< 
it  the  instrument   not  of  vengeance   1ml    reform       1' 


24 

remembers  the  slave,  pleads  his  cause  with  God  and 
man,  recognizes  in  him  a  human  brother,  respects  in 
him  the  sacred  rights  of  humanity,  and  claims  for  him 
not  as  a  boon,  but  as  a  right,  that  freedom,  without 
which  humanity  withers  and  God's  child  is  degraded 
into  a  tool  or  a  brute.  Still  more,  benevolence  now  is 
passing  all  limits  of  country  and  ocean.  It  would  send 
our  own  best  blessing  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  It 
would  make  the  wilderness  of  heathenism  bloom,  and 
join  all  nations  in  the  bonds  of  one  holy  and  loving 
faith.  Thus,  if  we  look  at  the  religious  movements  of 
the  age,  we  see  in  them  that  tendency  to  diffusion  and 
universality,  which  I  have  named  as  its  most  striking 
characteristic. 

Let  me  briefly  point  out  this  same  tendency  in 
Government.  Here,  indeed,  it  is  too  obvious  for  illus- 
tration. To  what  is  the  civilized  world  tending  ?  To 
popular  institutions,  or  what  is  the  same  thing,  to  the 
influence  of  the  people,  of  the  mass  of  men,  over  pub- 
lic affairs.  A  little  while  ago,  and  the  people  were  un- 
known as  a  power  in  the  state.  Now  they  are  getting 
all  power  into  their  hands.  Even  in  despotisms,  where 
they  cannot  act  through  institutions,  they  act  through 
public  opinion.  Intelligence  is  strength ;  and  in  pro- 
portion as  the  many  grow  intelligent,  they  must  guide 
the  world.  Kings  and  nobles  fill  less  and  less  place 
in  history ;  and  the  names  of  men,  who  once  were  lost 
amidst  the  glare  of  courts  and  titles,  are  now  written 
there  imperishably.     Once,  history  did  not  know  that 


25 

the  multitude  existed,  except  when  they  were  gathered 
together  on  the  field  of  battle,  to  be  sabred  and  shot 
down  for  the  glory  of  their  masters.  Now,  they  are 
coming  forward  into  the  foreground  of  her  picture.  It 
is  now  understood  that  government  exists  for  one  end, 
and  one  alone ;  and  that  is,  not  the  glory  of  the 
governor,  not  the  pomp  and  pleasure  of  a  few,  but 
the  good,  the  safety,  the  rights  of  all.  Once,  govern- 
ment was  an  inherited  monopoly,  guarded  by  the  doc- 
trine of  divine  right,  of  an  exclusive  commission  from 
the  Most  High.  Now,  office  and  dignity  are  thrown 
open  as  common  things,  and  nations  are  convulsed  by  the 
multitude  of  competitors  for  the  prize  of  public  power. 
Once,  the  policy  of  governments  had  no  higher  end 
than  to  concentrate  property  into  a  few  hands,  and  to 
confirm  the  relation  of  dependent  and  lord.  Now,  it 
aims  to  give  to  each  the  means  of  acquiring  property, 
and  of  carving  out  his  fortune  for  himself.  Such  is  the 
political  current  of  our  times.  Many  look  on  it 
with  dark  forebodings  as  on  a  desolating  torrent ;  while 
others  hail  it  as  a  fertilizing  stream.  But  in  one  thing, 
both  agree  ;  whether  torrent  or  stream,  the  mighty  cur- 
rent exists,  and  overflows,  and  cannot  be  confined  ;  and 
it  shows  us  in  the  political,  as  in  the  other  movements 
of  our  age,  the  tendency  to  universality,  to  diffusion. 

I  shall  notice  but  one  more  movement  of  the  age  as 
indicating  the  tendency  to  universality,  and  this  is  its 
Industry.  How  numberless  are  the  forms  which  lliis 
takes!     Into  how  many  channels  is  human  labour  pour- 

l 


26 

ing  itself  forth  !  How  widely  spread  is  the  passion  for 
acquisition,  not  for  simple  means  of  subsistence,  but  for 
wealth  !  What  vast  enterprises  agitate  the  community  ! 
What  a  rush  into  all  the  departments  of  trade !  How 
next  to  universal  the  insanity  of  speculation !  What 
new  arts  spring  up  !  Industry  pierces  the  forests,  and 
startles  with  her  axe  the  everlasting  silence.  To  you, 
Gentlemen,  commerce  is  the  commanding  interest ; 
and  this  has  no  limits  but  the  habitable  world.  It  no 
longer  creeps  along  the  shore,  or  lingers  in  accustomed 
tracks,  but  penetrates  into  every  inlet,  plunges  into 
the  heart  of  uncivilized  lands,  sends  its  steam-ships  up 
unexplored  rivers,  girdles  the  earth  with  railroads, 
and  thus  breaks  down  the  estrangements  of  nations. 
Commerce  is  a  noble  calling.  It  mediates  between 
distant  nations,  and  makes  men's  wants,  not,  as  for- 
merly, stimulants  to  war,  but  bonds  of  peace.  The 
universal  intellectual  activity  of  which  I  have  spoken, 
is  due,  in  no  small  degree,  to  commerce,  which  spreads 
the  thoughts,  inventions,  and  writings  of  great  men 
over  the  earth,  and  gathers  scientific  and  literary  men 
every  where  into  an  intellectual  republic.  So  it  car- 
ries abroad  the  missionary,  the  Bible,  the  Cross,  and 
is  giving  universality  to  true  religion.  Gentlemen, 
allow  me  to  express  an  earnest  desire  and  hope,  that 
the  merchants  of  this  country  will  carry  on  their  calling 
with  these  generous  views.  Let  them  not  pursue  it  for 
themselves  alone.  Let  them  rejoice  to  spread  improve- 
ments far  and  wide,  and  to  unite  men  in  more  friendly 


21 

ties.     Let   them    adopt  maxims    of  trade,   which   will 
establish  general  confidence.     Especially  in  their  inter- 
course with  less  cultivated  tribes,  let  them  feel  them- 
selves bound  to  be  harbingers  of  civilization.    Let  their 
voyages  be  missions  of  humanity,  useful  arts,  science, 
and  religion.     It  is  a  painful  thought,  that  commerce, 
instead   of  enlightening  and  purifying  less  privileged 
communities,  has  too  often  made  the  name   of  Chris- 
tian hateful   to  them,  has    carried  to  the  savage,  not 
our  useful  arts  and  mild  faith,   but  weapons  of  war 
and  the  intoxicating  draught.     I  call  not  on  God  to 
smite   with    his   lightnings,    to    overwhelm    with    his 
storms  the  accursed  ship,  which  goes  to  the  ignorant, 
rude  native,   freighted  with  poison  and  death;   which 
goes  to   add   new  ferocity  to  savage    life,  new  licen- 
tiousness to  savage  sensuality.     I  have  learned  not   to 
call    down   fire    from   heaven.     But,    in   the   name  of 
humanity,  of  religion,  of  God,  I  implore  the  merchants 
of  this   country,  not  to  use  the  light  of  a  higher  civil- 
ization to  corrupt,  to  destroy  our  ^uncivilized  brethren. 
Brethren    they  are    in  those  rude  huts,   in  that  wild 
attire.     Establish  with  them   an  intercourse  of  useful- 
ness, justice,  and  charity.     Before  they  can  understand 
the  name  of  Christ,  let  them  see  his  spirit  in  those  by 
whom  it  is  borne.     It  has  been  said,  that  the  commerce 
of  our  country  is  not  only  corrupting  uncivilized  coun- 
tries, but  that  it  wears  a  deeper,  more  damning  stain  ; 
that,  in  spite  of  the  laws  of  the  land  and  the  protest  of 
nations,    it  sometimes  lends  itself  to  the   slave-trade  ; 


28 

that,  by  its  capital,  and  accommodations,  and  swift 
sailers,  and  false  papers,  and  prostituted  flag,  it  takes 
part  in  tearing  the  African  from  his  home  and  native 
shore,  and  in  dooming  him,  first  to  the  horrors  of  the 
middle  passage,  and  then  to  the  hopelessness  of  per- 
petual bondage.  Even  on  men  so  fallen  I  call  down 
no  curse.  May  they  find  forgiveness  from  God  through 
the  pains  of  sincere  repentance  ;  but  continuing  what 
they  are,  can  I  help  shrinking  from  them  as  among  the 
most  infamous  of  their  race  ? 

Allow  me  to   say  a  word  to  the  merchants  of  our 
country  on  another   subject.     The  time  is  come,  when 
they  are  particularly  called  to  take  yet  more  generous 
views  of  their  vocation,  and  to  give  commerce  a  uni- 
versality as  yet  unknown.     I  refer  to  the  juster  princi- 
ples which  are  gaining  ground   on  the  subject  of  free 
trade,  and  to  the  growing  disposition  of  nations  to  pro- 
mote it.     Free  trade  ! — this  is  the  plain  duty  and  plain 
interest  of  the  human  race.  To  level  all  barriers  to  free 
exchange  ;  to  cut  up  the  system  of  restriction,  root  and 
branch ;    to  open   every  port  on  earth    to  every  pro- 
duct;   this  is   the  office  of  enlightened  humanity.     To 
this  a  free  nation  should  especially  pledge  itself.     Free- 
dom of  the  seas ;  freedom  of  harbours  ;  an  intercourse 
of  nations,  free   as  the  winds ;    this  is  not  a  dream  of 
philanthropists.     We  are  tending  towards  it,  and  let  us 
hasten  it.     Under  a  wiser  and  more  Christian  civiliza- 
tion, we  shall  look  back  on  our  present  restrictions,  as 
we  do   on  the   swaddling  bands,  by  which,  in  darker 


29 

times,  the  human  body  was  compressed.  The  growing 
freedom  of  trade  is  another  and  glorious  illustration  of 
the  tendency  of  our  age  to  universality. 


I  have  thus  aimed  to  show  in  the  principal  move- 
ments of  our  time  the  character  of  diffusion  and  univer- 
sality, and  in  doing  this,  I  have  used  language  implying 
my  joy  in  this  great  feature  of  our  age.  But  you  will 
not  suppose,  that  I  see  in  it  nothing  but  good.  Human 
affairs  admit  no  unmixed  good.  This  very  tendency 
has  its  perils  and  evils.  To  take  but  one  example ; 
the  opening  of  vast  prospects  of  wealth  to  the  multi- 
tude of  men  has  stirred  up  a  fierce  competition,  a  wild 
spirit  of  speculation,  a  feverish  insatiable  cupidity, 
under  which  fraud,  bankruptcy,  distrust,  distress,  are 
fearfully  multiplied,  so  that  the  name  of  American  has 
become  a  by-word  beyond  the  ocean.  I  see  the  danger  of 
the  present  state  of  society,  perhaps  as  clearly  as  any 
one.  But  still  I  rejoice  to  have  been  born  in  this  age. 
It  is  still  true,  that  human  nature  was  made  for  growth, 
expansion ;  this  is  its  proper  life,  and  this  must  not  be 
checked  because  it  has  perils.  The  child,  when  it  shoots 
up  into  youth,  exchanges  its  early  repose  and  security 
for  new  passion's,  for  strong  emotions,  which  are  full  of 
danger;  but  would  we  keep  him  forever  a  child  !  Dan- 
ger we  cannot  avoid.  It  is  a  grand  element  of  human 
life.     We  always  walk  on   precipices.     It  is  unmanly, 


30 

unwise,  it  shows  a  want  of  faith  in  God  and  humanity, 
to  deny  to  others  and  ourselves  free  scope  and  the  ex- 
pansion of  our  best  powers,  because  of  the  possible 
collisions  and  pains  to  be  feared  from  extending  acti- 
vity. Many,  indeed,  sigh  for  security  as  the  supreme 
good.  But  God  intends  us  for  something  better,  for 
effort,  conflict,  and  progress.  And  is  it  not  well  to 
live  in  a  stirring  and  mighty  world,  even  though  we 
suffer  from  it  ?  If  we  look  at  outward  nature,  we  find 
ourselves  surrounded  with  vast  and  fearful  elements, 
air,  sea,  and  fire,  which  sometimes  burst  all  bounds, 
and  overwhelm  man  and  his  labours  in  ruin.  But  who 
of  us  would  annihilate  these  awful  forces,  would  make 
the  ocean  a  standing  pool,  and  put  to  silence  the  loud 
blast,  in  order  that  life  may  escape  every  peril.  This 
mysterious,  infinite,  irresistible  might  of  nature,  break- 
ing out  in  countless  forms  and  motions,  makes  nature 
the  true  school  for  man,  and  gives  it  all  its  interest. 
In  the  soul  still  mightier  forces  are  pent  up,  and  their 
expansion  has  its  perils.  But  all  are  from  God,  who 
has  blended  with  them  checks,  restraints,  balances,  re- 
actions, by  which  all  work  together  for  good.  Let  us 
never  forget,  that,  amidst  this  fearful  stir,  there  is  a  pa- 
ternal Providence,  under  which  the  education  of  our 
race  has  gone  on,  and  a  higher  condition  of  humanity 
has  been  achieved. 

There  are,  however,  not  a  few,  who  have  painful  fears 
of  evil  from  the  restless,  earnest  action,  which  we  have 
seen  spreading  itself  more  and  more  through  all  depart- 


31 

ments  of  society.  They  call  the  age  wild,  lawless,  pre- 
sumptuous, without  reverence.  All  men,  they  tell  us, 
are  bursting  their  spheres,  quitting  their  ranks,  aspiring 
selfishly  after  gain  and  pre-eminence.  The  blind  mul- 
titude are  forsaking  their  natural  leaders.  The  poor, 
who  are  the  majority,  are  contriving  against  the  rich. 
Still  more,  a  dangerous  fanaticism  threatens  destruction 
to  the  world  under  the  name  of  Reform ;  society  totters ; 
property  is  shaken ;  and  the  universal  freedom  of 
thought  and  action,  of  which  so  many  boast,  is  the  pre- 
cursor of  social  storms,  which  only  despotism  can  calm. 
Such  are  the  alarms  of  not  a  few;  and  it  is  right  that 
fear  should  utter  its  prophecies,  as  well  as  hope.  But  it 
is  the  true  office  of  fear,  to  give  a  wise  direction  to  human 
effort,  not  to  chill  or  destroy  it.  To  despair  of  the 
race,  even  in  the  worst  times,  is  unmanly,  unchristian. 
How  much  more  so  in  times  like  the  present !  What  I 
most  lament  in  these  apprehensions,  is  the  utter  distrust 
of  human  nature  which  they  discover.  Its  highest 
powers  are  thought  to  be  given  only  to  be  restrained. 
They  are  thought  to  be  safe  only  when  in  fetters.  To 
me,  there  is  an  approach  to  impiety  in  thinking  so  meanly 
of  God's  greatest  work.  Human  nature  is  not  a  tiger 
which  needs  a  constant  chain.  In  this  case,  it  is  the 
chain  which  makes  the  tiger.  It  is  the  oppressor,  who 
has  made  man  fit  only  for  a  yoke. 

When  I  look  into  the  great  movements  of  the  age, 
particularly  as  manifested  in  our  own  country,  they 
seem  to  me  to  justify  no   overwhelming  fear.     True, 


they  are  earnest  and  wide  spreading;  but  the  objects 
to  which  they  are  directed  are  pledges  against  extensive 
harm.  For  example,  ought  the  general  diffusion  of 
science  and  literature  and  thought,  to  strike  dread? 
Do  habits  of  reading  breed  revolt?  Does  the  astrono- 
mer traverse  the  skies,  or  the  geologist  pierce  the  earth, 
to  gather  materials  for  assault  on  the  social  state  ? 
Does  the  study  of  nature  stir  up  rebellion  against  its 
author  ?  Is  it  the  lesson  which  men  learn  from  history, 
that  they  are  to  better  their  condition  by  disturbing  the 
State?  Does  the  reading  of  poetry  train  us  to  insur- 
rection? Does  the  diffusion  of  a  sense  of  beauty 
through  a  people  incline  them  to  tumult?  Are  not 
works  of  genius  and  the  fine  arts  soothing  influences  ? 
Is  not  a  shelf  of  books,  in  a  poor  man's  house,  some 
pledge  of  his  keeping  the  peace?  It  is  not  denied,  that 
thought,  in  its  freedom,  questions  and  assails  the  holiest 
truth.  But  is  truth  so  weak,  so  puny,  as  to  need  to  be 
guarded  by  bayonets  from  assault?  Has  truth  no 
beauty,  no  might  ?  Has  the  human  soul  no  power  to 
weigh  its  evidence,  to  reverence  its  grandeur?  Be- 
sides, does  not  freedom  of  thought,  when  most  unre- 
strained, carry  a  conservative  power  in  itself.  In  such 
a  state  of  things,  the  erring  do  not  all  embrace  the  same 
error.  Whilst  truth  is  one  and  the  same,  falsehood  is 
infinitely  various.  It  is  a  house  divided  against  itself, 
and  cannot  stand.  Error  soon  passes  away,  unless  up- 
held by  restraint  on  thought.  History  tells  us,  and  the 
lesson  is  invaluable,  that  the  physical  force,  which  has 


33 

put  down  free  inquiry,  has  been  the  main   bulwark  of 
the  superstitions  and  illusions  of  past  ages. 

In  the  next  place,  if  we  look  at  the  chief  direction  of 
the  universal  activity  of  the  age,  we  shall  find  that  it  is 
a  conservative  one,  so  as  to  render  social  convulsion 
next  to  impossible.  On  what,  after  all,  are  the  main 
energies  of  this  restlessness  spent  ?  On  property,  on 
wealth.  High  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  are  running  the 
race  of  accumulation.  Property  is  the  prize  for  which 
all  strain  their  nerves;  and  the  vast  majority  compass  in 
some  measure  this  end.  And  is  such  a  society  in  danger 
of  convulsion?  Is  tumult  the  way  to  wealth?  Is  a 
state  of  insecurity  coveted  by  men,  who  own  something 
and  hope  for  more  ?  Are  civil  laws,  which,  after  all, 
have  property  for  their  chief  concern,  very  likely  to  be 
trodden  under  foot  by  its  worshippers?  Of  all  the 
dreams  of  fear,  few  seem  to  me  more  baseless  than  the 
dread  of  anarchy  among  a  people,  who  are  possessed 
almost  to  a  man  with  the  passion  for  gain.  I  am  espe- 
cially amused,  when,  among  such  a  people,  I  sometimes 
hear  of  danger  to  property  and  society,  from  enthusias- 
tic, romantic  reformers,  who  preach  levelling  doctrines, 
equality  of  wealth,  quaker  plainness  of  dress,  vegetable 
food,  and  community-systems  where  all  are  to  toil  and 
divide  earnings  alike.  What !  Danger  from  romance  and 
enthusiasm  in  this  money-getting,  self-seeking,  self-in- 
dulging, self-displaying  land  !  I  confess,  that  to  me  it 
is  a  comfort  to  see  some  outbreak  of  enthusiasm, 
whether  transcendental,  philanthropic,  or   religious,  as 


34 

a  proof,  that  the  human  spirit  is  not  wholly  ingulphed 
in  matter  and  business,  that  it  can  lift  up  a  little  the 
mountains  of  worldliness  and  sense  with  which  it  is  so 
borne  down.  It  will  be  time  enough  to  fear,  when  we 
shall  see  fanaticism  of  any  kind  stopping  ever  so  little 
the  wheels  of  business  or  pleasure,  driving  ever  so 
little  from  man's  mind  the  idea  of  gain,  or  from  woman's 
the  love  of  display.  Are  any  of  you  dreading  an  inno- 
vating enthusiasm?  You  need  only  to  step  into  the 
streets  to  be  assured,  that  property  and  the  world  are 
standing  their  ground  against  the  spirit  of  reform,  as 
stoutly  as  the  most  worldly  man  could  desire. 

Another  view  which  quiets  my  fear  as  to  social 
order  from  the  universal  activity  of  the  times,  is  the  fact 
that  this  activity  appears  so  much  in  the  form  of  steady 
labour.  It  is  one  distinction  of  modern  over  ancient 
times,  that  we  have  grown  more  patient  of  toil.  Our 
danger  is  from  habits  of  drudgery.  The  citizens  of 
Greece  and  Rome  were  above  work.  We  seem  to 
work  with  something  of  the  instinct  of  the  ant  and  the 
bee ;  and  this  is  no  mean  security  against  lawlessness 
and   revolt. 

Another  circumstance  of  our  times  which  favours  a 
quiet  state  of  things,  is  the  love  of  comforts  which  the 
progress  of  arts  and  industry  has  spread  over  the 
community.  In  feudal  ages  and  ancient  times,  the 
mass  of  the  population  had  no  such  pleasant  homes,  no 
such  defences  against  cold  and  storms,  no  such  decent 
apparel,  no  such  abundant  and  savoury  meals,  as  fall  to 


35 

the  lot  of  our  population.  Now,  it  must  be  confessed, 
though  not  very  flattering  to  human  nature,  that  men 
are  very  slow  to  part  with  these  comforts,  even  in 
defence  of  a  good  cause,  much  less  to  throw  them  away 
in  wild  and  senseless  civil  broils. 

Another  element  of  security,  in  the  present,  is  the 
strength  of  domestic  affection.  Christianity  has  given 
new  sacredness  to  home,  new  tenderness  to  love,  new 
force  to  the  ties  of  husband  and  wife,  parent  and  child. 
Social  order  is  dear  to  us  all,  as  encircling  and  shel- 
tering our  homes.  In  ancient  and  rude  times,  the 
family  bond  was  comparatively  no  restraint.  We  should 
all  pause,  before  we  put  in  peril  beings  whom  we  hold 
most  dear. 

Once  more ;  Christianity  is  a  pledge  of  social  order 
which  none  of  us  sufficiently  prize.  Weak  as  its  influ- 
ence seems  to  be,  there  are  vast  numbers  into  whom  it 
has  infused  sentiments  of  justice,  of  kindness,  of  rever- 
ence for  God,  and  of  deep  concern  for  the  peace  and 
order  of  the  state.  Rapine  and  bloodshed  would  awaken 
now  a  horror  altogether  unknown  in  ages,  in  which  this 
mild  and  divine  truth  had  not  exerted  its  power. — With 
all  these  influences  in  favour  of  social  influence, 
have  we  much  to  fear  from  the  free,  earnest  universal 
movements  of  our  times  ?  I  believe  that  the  very  exten- 
sion of  human  powers  is  to  bring  with  it  new  checks 
against  their  abuse. 

The  prosperous  part  of  society  arc,  of  course,  par- 
ticularly liable   to    the    fear  of  winch    I    have   spoken. 


36 

They  sec  danger  especially  in  the  extension  of  power 
and  freedom  of  all  kinds  to  the  laboring  classes  of 
society.  They  look  with  a  jealous  eye  on  attempts 
to  elevate  these,  though  one  would  think,  that  to 
improve  a  man  was  the  surest  way  to  disarm  his 
violence.  They  talk  of  agrarianism.  They  dread  a 
system  of  universal  pillage.  They  dread  a  conspiracy 
of  the  needy  against  the  rich.  Now  the  manual 
laborer  has  burdens  enough  to  bear,  without  the 
load  of  groundless  suspicion  or  reproach.  It  ought 
to  be  understood,  that  the  great  enemies  to  society 
are  not  found  in  its  poorer  ranks.  The  mass  may, 
indeed,  be  used  as  tools ;  but  the  stirring  and  guiding 
powers  of  insurrection  are  found  above.  Communities 
fall  by  the  vices  of  the  prosperous  ranks.  We  are 
referred  to  Rome,  which  was  robbed  of  her  liberties, 
and  reduced  to  the  most  degrading  vassalage,  by  the 
lawlessness  of  the  plebians,  who  sold  themselves  to 
demagogues,  and  gave  the  republic  into  the  hands  of  a 
dictator.  But  what  made  the  plebians  an  idle,  disso- 
lute, rapacious  horde  ?  It  was  the  system  of  universal 
rapine,  which,  under  the  name  of  conquest,  had  been 
carried  on  for  ages  by  patricians,  by  all  the  powers  of 
the  State ;  a  system,  which  glutted  Rome  with  the 
spoils  of  the  pillaged  world ;  which  fed  her  population 
without  labour,  from  the  public  treasures,  and  cor- 
rupted them  by  public  shows.  It  was  this,  which 
helped  to  make  the  metropolis  of  the  earth  a  sink  of 
crime   and   pollution,    such    as   the   world   had  never 


37 

known.  It  was  time  that  the  grand  robber-state 
should  be  cast  down  from  her  guilty  eminence.  Her 
brutish  populace,  which  followed  Caesar's  car  with 
shouts,  was  not  worse  than  the  venal,  crouching  senate 
which  registered  his  decrees.  Let  not  the  poor  bear 
the  burden  of  the  rich.  At  this  moment  we  are  groan- 
ing over  the  depressed  and  dishonoured  state  of  our 
country ;  and  who,  let  me  ask,  have  shaken  its  credit, 
and  made  so  many  of  its  institutions  bankrupt  ?  The 
poor,  or  the  rich  ?  Whence  is  it,  that  the  incomes  of 
the  widow,  the  orphan,  the  aged,  have  been  narrowed, 
and  multitudes  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean  brought  to 
the  brink  of  want  ?  Is  it  from  an  outbreak  of  popular 
fury?  Is  it  from  gangs  of  thieves,  sprung  from  the 
mob  ?  We  know  the  truth,  and  it  shows  us  where  the 
great  danger  to  property  lies. 

Communities  fall  by  the  vices  of  the  great,  not  the 
small.  The  French  Revolution  is  perpetually  sounded 
in  our  ears,  as  a  warning  against  the  lawlessness  of  the 
people.  But  whence  came  this  revolution  ?  Who  were 
the  regicides?  Who  beheaded  Louis  XVI  ?  You  tell 
me  the  Jacobins ;  but  history  tells  a  different  tale.  I 
will  show  you  the  beheaders  of  Louis  XVI.  They 
were  Louis  XIV,  and  the  Regent  who  followed  him, 
and  Louis  the  XV.  These  brought  their  descendant 
to  the  guillotine.  The  priesthood,  who  revoked  the 
edict  of  Nantz,  and  drove  from  France  the  skill  and 
industry  and  virtue  and  piety  which  were  the  sinews 
of     her    strength  ;    the    statesmen     who    intoxicated 


4 « ■;;??< 


38 

Louis  XIV.  with  the  scheme  of  universal  empire  ; 
the  profligate,  prodigal,  shameless  Orleans ;  and  the 
still  more  brutalized  Louis  the  XV,  with  his  court 
of  panders  and  prostitutes ;  these  made  the  nation 
bankrupt,  broke  asunder  the  bond  of  loyalty,  and 
overwhelmed  the  throne  and  altar  in  ruins.  We 
hear  of  the  horrors  of  the  revolution;  but  in  this 
as  in  other  things,  we  recollect  the  effect  without  think- 
ing of  the  guiltier  cause.  The  revolution  was  indeed 
a  scene  of  horror ;  but  when  I  look  back  on  the  reigns 
which  preceded  it,  and  which  made  Paris  almost  one 
great  stew  and  gaming  house,  and  when  I  see  altar  and 
throne  desecrated  by  a  licentiousness  unsurpassed  in 
any  former  age,  I  look  on  scenes  as  shocking  to  the 
calm  and  searching  eye  of  reason  and  virtue,  as  the 
10th  of  August  and  the  massacres  of  September. 
Bloodshed  is  indeed  a  terrible  spectacle;  but  there  are 
other  things  almost  as  fearful  as  blood.  There  are  crimes 
that  do  not  make  us  start  and  turn  pale  like  the  guillo- 
tine, but  are  deadlier  in  their  workings.  God  forbid, 
that  I  should  say  a  word  to  weaken  the  thrill  of  horror, 
with  which  we  contemplate  the  outrages  of  the  French 
Revolution.  But  when  I  hear  that  revolution  quoted 
to  frighten  us  from  reform,  to  show  us  the  danger  of 
lifting  up  the  depressed  and  ignorant  mass,  I  must  ask 
whence  it  came  ?  and  the  answer  is,  that  it  came  from 
the  intolerable  weight  of  misgovernment  and  tyrranny, 
from  the  utter  want  of  culture  among  the  mass  of  the 
people,  and  from  a  corruption  of  the  great,  too  deep  to 


39 

be  purged  away  except  by  destruction.  I  am  also 
compelled  to  remember,  that  the  people,  in  this  their 
singular  madness,  wrought  far  less  woe  than  kings  and 
priests  have  wrought,  as  a  familiar  thing,  in  all  ages  of 
the  world.  All  the  murders  of  the  French  Revolution 
did  not  amount,  I  think,  by  one-fifth,  to  those  of  the 
'  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.'  The  priesthood  and 
the  throne,  in  one  short  night  and  day,  shed  more  blood, 
and  that  the  best  blood  of  France,  than  was  spilled  by 
Jacobinism  and  all  other  forms  of  violence  during  the 
whole  revolution.  Even  the  atheism  and  infidelity  of 
France  were  due  chiefly  to  a  licentious  priesthood  and 
a  licentious  court.  It  was  religion,  so  called,  that  dug 
her  own  grave.  In  offering  this  plea  for  the  multitude, 
I  have  no  desire  to  transfer  to  the  multitude  un- 
controlled political  power.  I  look  at  power  in  all 
hands  with  jealousy.  I  wish  neither  rich  nor  poor 
to  be  my  masters.  What  I  wish  is,  the  improvement, 
the  elevation  of  all  classes,  and  especially  of  the  most 
numerous  class,  because  the  most  numerous,  because 
the  many  are  mankind,  and  because  no  social  progress 
can  be  hoped  but  from  influences  which  penetrate  and 
raise  the  mass  of  men.  The  mass  must  not  be  con- 
fined and  kept  down  through  a  vague  dread  of  revolu- 
tions. A  social  order  requiring  such  a  sacrifice,  would 
be  too  dearly  bought.  No  order  should  satisfy  us,  but 
that  which  is  in  harmony  with  universal  improvement 
and  freedom. 

In  the   general   tone   of  this    discourse,   it    may   be 
thought,  that  I  have  proposed  t<»  vindicate  the  present 


40 

age.  I  have  no  such  thought.  I  would  improve,  not 
laud  it.  I  feel  its  imperfections  and  corruptions  as 
deeply  as  any,  though  I  may  be  most  shocked  by  fea- 
tures that  give  others  little  pain.  The  saddest  aspect 
of  the  age,  to  me,  is  that  which  undoubtedly  contributes 
to  social  order.  It  is  the  absorption  of  the  multitude 
of  men  in  outward  material  interests ;  it  is  the  selfish 
prudence,  which  is  never  tired  of  the  labour  of  accumu- 
lation, and  which  keeps  men  steady,  regular,  respectable 
drudges  from  morning  to  night.  The  cases  of  a  few 
murders,  great  crimes,  lead  multitudes  to  exclaim,  How 
wicked  this  age  !  But  the  worst  sign  is,  the  chaining 
down  of  almost  all  the  minds  of  a  community  to  low 
perishable  interests.  It  is  a  sad  thought,  that  the  infi- 
nite energies  of  the  soul  have  no  higher  end,  than  to 
cover  the  back,  and  fill  the  belly,  and  keep  caste  in 
society.  A  few  nerves,  hardly  visible  on  the  surface 
of  the  tongue,  create  most  of  the  endless  stir  around 
us.  Undoubtedly,  eating  and  drinking,  dressing,  house- 
building, and  caste-keeping,  are  matters  not  to  be 
despised  ;  most  of  them  are  essential.  But  surely  life 
has  a  higher  use,  than  to  adorn  this  body  which  is  so 
soon  to  be  wrapt  in  grave-clothes,  than  to  keep  warm 
and  flowing  the  blood  which  is  so  soon  to  be  cold 
and  stagnant  in  the  tomb.  I  rejoice  in  the  bound- 
less activity  of  the  age,  and  I  expect  much  of  it  to  be 
given  to  our  outward  wants.  But  over  all  this  activity, 
there  should  preside  the  great  idea  of  that,  which  is 
alone  ourselves,  of  our  inward  spiritual  nature,  of  the 
thinking  immortal  soul,  of  our  supreme  good,  our  chief 


41 

end,  which  is,  to  bring  out,  cultivate,  and  perfect  our 
highest  powers,  to  become  wise,  holy,  disinterested, 
noble  beings,  to  unite  ourselves  to  God  by  love  and 
adoration,  and  to  revere  his  image  in  his  children.  The 
vast  activity  of  this  age  of  which  I  have  spoken,  is  too 
much  confined  to  the  sensual  and  material,  to  gain 
and  pleasure  and  show.  Could  this  activity  be  swayed 
and  purified  by  a  noble  aim,  not  a  single  comfort  of 
life  would  be  retrenched,  whilst  its  beauty  and  grace 
and  interest  would  be  unspeakably  increased. 

There  is  another  dark  feature  of  this  age.  It  is  the 
spirit  of  collision,  contention,  discord,  which  breaks 
forth  in  religion,  in  politics,  in  business,  in  private 
affairs  ;  a  result  and  necessary  issue  of  the  selfishness 
which  prompts  the  endless  activity  of  life.  The  mighty 
forces,  which  are  this  moment  acting  in  society,  are 
not  and  cannot  be  in  harmony,  for  they  are  not 
governed  by  Love.  They  jar ;  they  are  discordant. 
Life  now  has  little  music  in  it.  It  is  not  only  on  the 
field  of  battle  that  men  fight.  They  fight  on  the  ex- 
change. Business  is  war,  a  conflict  of  skill,  manage- 
ment, and  too  often  fraud ;  to  snatch  the  prey  from  our 
neighbour  is  the  end  of  all  this  stir.  Religion  is  war ; 
Christians,  forsaking  their  one  Lord,  gather  under 
various  standards,  to  gain  victory  for  their  sects.  Po- 
litics are  war,  breaking  the  whole  people  into  fierce 
and  unscrupulous  parties,  whicli  forget  their  country 
in  conflicts  for  office  and  power.  The  age  needs 
nothing  more  than  peace-makers,  men  of  Berene,  com- 

6 


42 

manding  virtue,  to  preach  in  life  and  word  the  gospel 
of  human  brotherhood,  to  allay  the  fires  of  jealousy 
and  hate. 

I  have  named  discouraging  aspects  of  our  time  to 
show  that  I  am  not  blind  to  the  world  I  live  in.  But 
I  still  hope  for  the  human  race.  Indeed,  I  could  not 
live  without  hope.  Were  I  to  look  on  the  world  as 
many  do  ;  were  I  to  see  in  it  a  maze  without  a  plan,  a 
whirl  of  changes  without  aim,  a  stage  for  good  and  evil 
to  fight  without  an  issue,  an  endless  motion  without 
progress,  a  world  where  sin  and  idolatry  are  to  triumph 
forever  and  the  oppressor's  rod  never  to  be  broken,  I 
should  turn  from  it  with  sickness  of  heart,  and  care 
not  how  soon  the  sentence  of  its  destruction  were  ful- 
filled. History  and  philosophy  plainly  show  to  me  in 
human  nature  the  foundation  and  promise  of  a  better 
era,  and  Christianity  concurs  with  these.  The  thought 
of  a  higher  condition  of  the  world,  was  the  secret  fire 
which  burned  in  the  soul  of  the  Great  Founder  of  our 
religion,  and  in  his  first  followers.  That  he  was  to  act 
on  all  future  generations,  that  he  was  sowing  a  seed 
which  was  to  grow  up  and  spread  its  branches  over  all 
nations,  this  great  thought  never  forsook  him  in  life 
and  death.  That  under  Christianity  a  civilization 
has  grown  up,  containing  in  itself  nobler  elements  than 
are  found  in  earlier  forms  of  society,  who  can  deny  ? 
Great  ideas  and  feelings,  derived  from  this  source,  are 
now  at  work.  Amidst  the  prevalence  of  crime  and 
selfishness,  there  has  sprung  up  in  the  human  heart  a 


43 

sentiment  or  principle  unknown  in  earlier  ages,  an 
enlarged  and  trustful  philanthropy,  which  recognizes 
the  rights  of  every  human  being,  which  is  stirred  by  the 
terrible  oppressions  and  corruptions  of  the  world,  and 
which  does  not  shrink  from  conflict  with  evil  in  its 
worst  forms.  There  has  sprung  up  too  a  faith,  of 
which  antiquity  knew  nothing,  in  the  final  victory  of 
truth  and  right,  in  the  elevation  of  men  to  a  clearer 
intelligence,  to  more  fraternal  union,  and  to  a  purer 
worship.  This  faith  is  taking  its  place  among  the 
great  springs  of  human  action,  is  becoming  even  a  pas- 
sion in  more  fervent  spirits.  I  hail  it  as  a  prophecy 
which  is  to  fulfil  itself.  A  nature  capable  of  such  an 
aspiration  cannot  be  degraded  forever.  Ages  rolled 
away  before  it  was  learned,  that  this  world  of  matter 
which  we  tread  on  is  in  constant  motion.  We  are  begin- 
ning to  learn,  that  the  intellectual,  moral,  social  wrorld 
has  its  motion  too,  not  fixed  and  immutable  like  that  of 
matter,  but  one  which  the  free  will  of  men  is  to  carry 
on,  and  which,  instead  of  returning  into  itself  like  the 
earth's  orbit,  is  to  stretch  forward  forever.  This  hope 
lightens  the  mystery  and  burthen  of  life.  It  is  a  star 
which  shines  on  me  in  the  darkest  night ;  and  I  should 
rejoice  to  reveal  it  to  the  eyes  of  my  fellow  creatures. 

I  have  thus  spoken  of  the  Present  Age.  In  these 
brief  words,  what  a  world  of  thought  is  comprehended  ! 
what  infinite  movements  !  what  joys  and  sorrows  !  w  bat 
hope  and  despair!  what  faith  and  doubt!  what  silent 
grief  and  loud  lament!    what  fierce  conflicts  and  sub- 


44 

tie  schemes  of  policy?  what  private  and  public  revo- 
lutions !     In  the  period  through  which  many  of  us  have 
passed,  what  thrones  have  been  shaken  !  What  hearts 
have  bled  !  What  millions  have  been  butchered  by  their 
fellow   creatures !    What  hopes  of  philanthropy  have 
been  blighted  !  And  at  the  same  time,  what  magnificent 
enterprises  have  been  achieved !  What  new  provinces 
won    to    science  and   art!     What  rights  and  liberties 
secured  to  nations  !     It  is  a  privilege  to  have  lived  in  an 
age   so  stirring,    so    pregnant,    so  eventful.      It  is  an 
age  never  to  be   forgotten.     Its  voice  of  warning  and 
encouragement  is  never  to  die.     Its  impression  on  his- 
tory  is   indelible.     Amidst  its   events,   the    American 
revolution,   the    first  distinct,  solemn  assertion  of  the 
Rights  of  men,  and  the  French  revolution,  that  volcanic 
force  which  shook  the   earth  to  its   centre,  are  never 
to   pass  from  men's  minds.     Over  this  age,  the  night 
will  indeed  gather  more  and  more,  as  time  rolls  away ; 
but  in  that  night  two  forms  will  appear,  Washington 
and  Napoleon,  the  one  a  lurid  meteor,  the  other  a  be- 
nign, serene,  and  undecaying  star.     Another  American 
name  will  live  in  history,  your  Franklin  ;    and  the  kite, 
which   brought   lightning  from    Heaven,   will  be  seen 
sailing  in  the  clouds  by  remote  posterity,  when  the  city 
where  he  dwelt  may  be  known  only  by  its  ruins.    There 
is,    however,    something  greater   in  the    age   than   its 
greatest  men  ;  it  is  the  appearance  of  a  new  power  in 
the  world,  the  appearance  of  the  multitude  of  men  on 
that  stage,  where  as  yet  the  few  have  acted  their  parts 


45 

alone.  This  influence  is  to  endure  to  the  end  of  time. 
What  more  of  the  present  is  to  survive?  Perhaps 
much,  of  which  we  now  take  no  note.  The  glory  of  an 
age  is  often  hidden  from  itself.  Perhaps  some  word 
has  been  spoken  in  our  day  which  we  have  not  deigned 
to  hear,  but  which  is  to  grow  clearer  and  louder  through 
all  ages.  Perhaps  some  silent  thinker  among  us 
is  at  work  in  his  closet,  whose  name  is  to  fill  the  earth. 
Perhaps  there  sleeps  in  his  cradle  some  Reformer, 
who  is  to  move  the  church  and  the  world,  who  is  to 
open  a  new  era  in  history,  who  is  to  fire  the  human  soul 
with  new  hope  and  new  daring.  What  else  is  to  sur- 
vive the  age?  That,  which  the  age  has  little  thought 
of,  but  which  is  living  in  us  all ;  I  mean  the  Soul,  the 
Immortal  Spirit.  Of  this  all  ages  are  the  unfoldings,  and 
it  is  greater  than  all.  We  must  not  feel  in  the  contem- 
plation of  the  vast  movements  of  our  own  and  former 
times,  as  if  we  ourselves  were  nothing.  I  repeat  it,  we 
are  greater  than  all.  We  are  to  survive  our  age,  to 
comprehend  it,  and  to  pronounce  its  sentence.  As  yet, 
however,  we  are  encompassed  with  darkness.  The 
issues  of  our  time  how  obscure  !  The  future  into  which 
it  opens,  who  of  us  can  forsee  ?  To  the  Father  of  all 
Ages  I  commit  this  future,  with  humble  yet  courageous 
and  unfaltering  hope. 


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